Arts

Kate Forbes and John Douglas Thompson have been selected by the Actors' Equity Foundation to receive the 2009 Joe A. Callaway Awards. Full Story »

The company of the second North American tour of Wicked welcomes Don Amendolia as the Wizard and Zach Hanna as Boq on Dec. 9, in Schenectady, NY. Full Story »

Tom Wopat, Norm Lewis, Euan Morton and Matthew Scott will join the previously announced Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Leslie Kritzer for the world premiere of Sondheim on Sondheim, the new Broadway show conceived and directed by James Lapine. Full Story »

The producers of the first Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker announced on Dec. 9 that ten-year-old actress Kyra Ynez Siegel, who has vision loss in one of her eyes, has been cast as the understudy to Abigail Breslin in the role of Helen Keller, the famous American who overcame challenges to become a symbol of hope. Full Story »

Broadway's Tory Ross has joined the previously announced Olivier Award winner Miles Western to star as Clarice and Hannibal Lecter, respectively, in Silence! The Musical, a parody of the 1991 film "The Silence of the Lambs." It will receive its European premiere, beginning performances at London's Above the Stag Theatre Jan. 19, prior to an official opening Jan. 21, for a run that is booking through Feb. 28, 2010. Full Story »

Eight theatre artists will be honored by the Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee during the presentation of its 45th Annual Awards at a Sardi's lunch in Manhattan on Dec. 11. Full Story »

Disney Cruise Line officially announced that Broadway's Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, of [title of show], are creating a new musical stage show, Villains Tonight!, to premiere in spring 2010 aboard Disney Magic. Full Story »

The Addams Family, the new musical inspired by the macabre clan of characters created by late illustrator Charles Addams, opens Dec. 9 in a pre-Broadway engagement in Chicago. Full Story »

Lou Ferguson, Roslyn Ruff and Thomas Silcott will appear in Berkeley Repertory Theatre's production of Athol Fugard's new play, Coming Home, Jan. 14, 2010-Feb. 28, 2010, on the Rep's intimate Thrust Stage. Full Story »

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) has given theatrical producer Zev Buffman, founder of the annual International Mystery Writers' Festival, its 2010 Raven Award. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - A Rembrandt painting unseen in public for nearly 40 years sold for a record 20.2 million pounds ($33.2 million) at auction in London on Tuesday, the highest ever paid at auction for the 17th century artist. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - A painter of abstract designs who wants none of his work to survive his death was awarded one of the world's top contemporary art prizes on Monday. Full Story »

MILAN (Reuters) - Georges Bizet's "Carmen," a tale of love, jealousy and murder, opened the season on Monday at Milan's La Scala to applause for the singers but boos for the creator of its sparse staging, Emma Dante. Full Story »

ROME (Reuters) - A collection of Futurist paintings and other works of art owned by Italian air carrier Alitalia has raised 1.2 million euros ($1.77 million) under the hammer, the auction house said on Wednesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Screen-to-stage adaptations have become a theatrical staple in recent years, and leave it to the Brits to do it with far more imagination than we. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Fans of the television series "Boston Legal" would be well advised to head to David Mamet's new play "Race," in which James Spader is once again doing a crackerjack job of portraying a ruthless lawyer. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - There's one major difference between "Seinfeld" and its star's stand-up act. The TV show ostensibly was about nothing, but it thrived on the comedy of coincidence; onstage, Jerry Seinfeld mines the comedy of annoyance. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A signed four-page letter written by George Washington to his nephew in 1787 sold for $3.2 million, and two works by Edgar Allen Poe set new sales records on Friday in auctions held by Christie's. Full Story »